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Author Topic: Book of Shadows: How did you do it?  (Read 20156 times)

Ehina

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Book of Shadows: How did you do it?
« on: October 05, 2012, 03:28:51 pm »
I recently just stared my bos and was wondering about everyone else.
When did you start yours, what does it look like, is your categorized or a cluttered mess, did you type it or is it hand written?

Mine is actually more like a field journal. It has a leather cover with a leather strap that wraps around it to keep it shut, and filled with 200+ pages of parchment, I wrote mine out by hand and it is slightly organized by where I get what information: website, book, article etc.

Vale

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Re: Book of Shadows: How did you do it?
« Reply #1 on: October 05, 2012, 03:47:34 pm »
Quote from: NeonGreenCrayon;75937
I recently just stared my bos and was wondering about everyone else.
When did you start yours, what does it look like, is your categorized or a cluttered mess, did you type it or is it hand written?

Mine is actually more like a field journal. It has a leather cover with a leather strap that wraps around it to keep it shut, and filled with 200+ pages of parchment, I wrote mine out by hand and it is slightly organized by where I get what information: website, book, article etc.



I just keep a diary of what I get up to which is always with me.

Receipts etc are  kept in Word documents and Excel spreadsheets  and coven stuff goes in a ring binder.

Laveth

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Re: Book of Shadows: How did you do it?
« Reply #2 on: October 05, 2012, 04:16:33 pm »
Quote from: NeonGreenCrayon;75937
I recently just stared my bos and was wondering about everyone else.
When did you start yours, what does it look like, is your categorized or a cluttered mess, did you type it or is it hand written?

Mine is actually more like a field journal. It has a leather cover with a leather strap that wraps around it to keep it shut, and filled with 200+ pages of parchment, I wrote mine out by hand and it is slightly organized by where I get what information: website, book, article etc.

 

Hand written, I actually have a couple. Each one has a different focus.

For example, one has  notes regarding the yearly cycles, holidays, my creature interactions, color associations, commonly used plants, oils, personal notes, and things I tend to experience on a daily basis. One is solely focused on divination, the other holds every random tidbit I picked up from... everywhere... both internal and external sources, that's more or less a reference book in case something comes up.

All but one of these is a faux-leather journal. I have one 3-ring binder that I keep printed copies of folklore in (because I can't be asked to hand-write that).

Nyktelios

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Re: Book of Shadows: How did you do it?
« Reply #3 on: October 05, 2012, 05:43:23 pm »
Quote from: NeonGreenCrayon;75937
I recently just stared my bos and was wondering about everyone else.
When did you start yours, what does it look like, is your categorized or a cluttered mess, did you type it or is it hand written?

Mine is actually more like a field journal. It has a leather cover with a leather strap that wraps around it to keep it shut, and filled with 200+ pages of parchment, I wrote mine out by hand and it is slightly organized by where I get what information: website, book, article etc.

Mine is handwritten, but I've edited it a lot over the years. I've scrapped a lot of things I used to have, and added new things as needed. I have the basic liturgies like The Witches' Creed, The Charge of the Goddess, and The Legend of the Descent of the Goddess, my favourite meditations, deity information and invocations, moon rituals, sabbat rituals, basic colour and herbal correspondences, some spells I've made up myself and some I've adapted from other places. That about sums it up.
« Last Edit: October 05, 2012, 05:44:12 pm by Nyktelios »

Rhyshadow

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Re: Book of Shadows: How did you do it?
« Reply #4 on: October 05, 2012, 06:22:33 pm »
Quote from: Carnelian;75941
Mine is handwritten, but I've edited it a lot over the years. I've scrapped a lot of things I used to have, and added new things as needed. I have the basic liturgies like The Witches' Creed, The Charge of the Goddess, and The Legend of the Descent of the Goddess, my favourite meditations, deity information and invocations, moon rituals, sabbat rituals, basic colour and herbal correspondences, some spells I've made up myself and some I've adapted from other places. That about sums it up.

 
Franklin Covey Classic

Both handwritten stuff and stuff from my laser printer that I have on HD

I'm not picky

Euryalus

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Re: Book of Shadows: How did you do it?
« Reply #5 on: October 05, 2012, 06:38:23 pm »
Quote from: NeonGreenCrayon;75937
I recently just stared my bos and was wondering about everyone else.
When did you start yours, what does it look like, is your categorized or a cluttered mess, did you type it or is it hand written?

Mine is actually more like a field journal. It has a leather cover with a leather strap that wraps around it to keep it shut, and filled with 200+ pages of parchment, I wrote mine out by hand and it is slightly organized by where I get what information: website, book, article etc.

 
Mine, (or at least what passes for one,) is a folder on my hard drive filled with assorted PDFs and text files.  Most of which I've never actually read all the way through, I just download, stick there, and forget about them.  I do have some hand-written stuff copied from websites sitting in notebooks, but haven't mustered the effort to digitize it yet.

Kylara

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Re: Book of Shadows: How did you do it?
« Reply #6 on: October 06, 2012, 10:37:24 am »
Quote from: NeonGreenCrayon;75937
I recently just stared my bos and was wondering about everyone else.
When did you start yours, what does it look like, is your categorized or a cluttered mess, did you type it or is it hand written?


 
I have quite a few.  My main working BOS is a three ring binder, organized by tab section dividers, with handcopied stuff.  It contains the things I consider to be part of my current working practice, or things I reference often.  

Things that have become out of date, or older information that isn't so incorrect I just toss it, or things I don't use often go in a different three ring binder.  Records of divinations I have done go here.

I have a small leather bound journal that has very select information and bits and bobs I just don't feel at home without.  This is my travel BOS.

And I have a slew of spiral/composition notebooks that have random notes from things I have read or things I am thinking about.  I also have files on my computer that are waiting to be copied over somewhere.
Check out my Patreon for more writing and other goodies!

Sophia C

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Book of Shadows: How did you do it?
« Reply #7 on: October 06, 2012, 12:25:53 pm »
Quote from: NeonGreenCrayon;75937
I recently just stared my bos and was wondering about everyone else.
When did you start yours, what does it look like, is your categorized or a cluttered mess, did you type it or is it hand written?

I'm really bad at keeping records of my research - I need a better system. I have a ring binder that I haven't added to for about a year. I do better with digital tools - I have a Springpad app with notes that I collect together. It's not a pretty way to keep info together, but I can remember to add to it. Apart from that I have a Druidry journal where I keep notes (scribbled) on meditations, tarot readings etc.
"We're all stories, in the end. Make it a good one, eh?"
- Doctor Who

CoraFrost

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Re: Book of Shadows: How did you do it?
« Reply #8 on: October 07, 2012, 02:18:08 pm »
Quote from: NeonGreenCrayon;75937

When did you start yours, what does it look like, is your categorized or a cluttered mess, did you type it or is it hand written?

 
I am fairly new to my current path that celebrates the WOTY with different sabbats and rituals.  Right now I have BoS that was published by someone with a similar background/current path as myself.  With each new ritual and rite that I practice, however, I make changes to the wording (writing in the margins) to make it fit my needs/desires.  I figure that after I've been practicing a while and have my ways fairly consistent, I'll take the time to type up my own version, print and bind etc...  

Aside from that book, I have a folder and a hat box of my metaphysical tools that I keep under my alter that have some of my Reiki practice, angelic practice, and other spiritual tools/meditations etc... Eventually, I think I'll include these pieces in the BoS as well.
I\'m a white witch... but only between Memorial and Labor Day. ;)

Chatelaine

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Re: Book of Shadows: How did you do it?
« Reply #9 on: October 07, 2012, 05:54:49 pm »
Quote from: NeonGreenCrayon;75937
I recently just stared my bos and was wondering about everyone else.
When did you start yours, what does it look like, is your categorized or a cluttered mess, did you type it or is it hand written?


Hard drive of shadows all the way (8GB flash drive, to be precise). For years, any material I had came from the internet. Printouts lying around are not exactly a wise practice when you're in the broom closet.

I don't like my handwriting, so I only do the most minimal journaling in longhand.
'You created us restless, O Lord, and we find no rest until we rest in You.'
~St Augustine~
Whole blog o' nonsense: Are We There Yet?

everseeking

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Re: Book of Shadows: How did you do it?
« Reply #10 on: October 07, 2012, 11:36:44 pm »
Quote from: NeonGreenCrayon;75937
I recently just stared my bos and was wondering about everyone else.
When did you start yours, what does it look like, is your categorized or a cluttered mess, did you type it or is it hand written?

 
I keep mine on my computer - until I get a place of my own it wouldn't be wise to leave it lying around. I only recently started it; I'm uncertain of my path at the moment but my BOS contains stuff on various holidays, associations, etc., basically anything I picked up that could be of use. Eventually I'll use a three ring binder and a hardbound journal (although my handwriting is pretty shocking :))

Sulischild

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Re: Book of Shadows: How did you do it?
« Reply #11 on: October 08, 2012, 12:34:49 am »
Quote from: Kylara;75984
I have quite a few.  My main working BOS is a three ring binder, organized by tab section dividers, with handcopied stuff.  It contains the things I consider to be part of my current working practice, or things I reference often.  

 
I bow to your organisation!  My BoS is a shambles and needs a complete do-over, and I think I'll borrow some of your ideas.  

The one I have at the moment is handwritten, because my introduction to the path was via some fairly hardline sorts and it was impressed upon me that That Was How It Was Done.  However, I have motor skills issues and my writing is genuinely close to illegible, making it of questionable use to me and none at all to anyone else.  Plus I used a hard-bound notebook rather than a binder, which means now I can't go back and add more to sections where I've learned more, changed tack entirely, or have just evolved to do stuff differently.

The other mistake I made was entering a lot of stuff I thought I was going to need - Celtic altar layouts, WotY information, again, stuff I'd been told was Very Important And Must Be Adhered To - before I'd actually road-tested it.  Turns out a lot of that information doesn't work for me, so now it's just taking up space in the book.  The WotY, for instance, just doesn't work in the part of the world I consider home because we don't have four seasons, a winter, or a defined harvest period.  The altar layouts make academic sense but are completely non-intuitive and never felt right.  Were I to start over, I wouldn't be so quick to include stuff other people were telling me about how I should be doing things.

I also don't have any UPG or insights from meditations in my BoS, I just realised.  Surely the point of a personal book is to fill it with personal things, rather than stuff copied out of Alexei Kondratiev's books, but try telling my 25 year old self that.

A binder, where I could add extra pages or purge crap as it reveals itself, would be a great idea.  And handwriting might be forge a closer link between writer and material and blah blah blah, but I'm no longer up for making life harder than it needs to be.

Kylara

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Re: Book of Shadows: How did you do it?
« Reply #12 on: October 08, 2012, 10:34:38 am »
Quote from: Sulischild;76105
I bow to your organisation!  My BoS is a shambles and needs a complete do-over, and I think I'll borrow some of your ideas.  

...

A binder, where I could add extra pages or purge crap as it reveals itself, would be a great idea.  And handwriting might be forge a closer link between writer and material and blah blah blah, but I'm no longer up for making life harder than it needs to be.

 
Thanks :)  Mine kind of evolved out of necessity.  When I started I was a broke college student, so my book was an old binder I had used for school.  I did manage to keep one of those 5-star canvas binder covers, which is lovely because it has pockets (and they don't make that kind anymore).

I do the hand copy thing because it helps me learn and remember better.  But I agree, if it doesn't work for you, do something else.  I have several packets of pages I photocopied out of books, when I wanted to keep a goodly chunk of info and it was a library book due back in and I didn't have time to copy it out longhand.  

I think if I had a tablet computer I would have a lot of fun making a digital bos, but my memory is such (even with the hand copying!) that sometimes I just need my book in circle with me, so having it on a flash at the moment isn't workable for me except for things I and working with more academically and not in my regular practice.
Check out my Patreon for more writing and other goodies!

Green Thumb

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Re: Book of Shadows: How did you do it?
« Reply #13 on: October 12, 2012, 02:18:21 pm »
Quote from: NeonGreenCrayon;75937
I recently just stared my bos and was wondering about everyone else.
When did you start yours, what does it look like, is your categorized or a cluttered mess, did you type it or is it hand written?

Mine is actually more like a field journal. It has a leather cover with a leather strap that wraps around it to keep it shut, and filled with 200+ pages of parchment, I wrote mine out by hand and it is slightly organized by where I get what information: website, book, article etc.

 
Mine looks like a regular journal, written by hand and inputted by date. If I need anything from previous times of my writing I look for certain symbols that correspond with the topic. Since it is in my own very tiny, slanted, hard to read, and intricate cursive hand writing if anyone does pick it up in my room they cannot read it.
~E

SkylarB

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Re: Book of Shadows: How did you do it?
« Reply #14 on: October 12, 2012, 06:41:24 pm »
Quote from: NeonGreenCrayon;75937
I recently just stared my bos and was wondering about everyone else.
When did you start yours, what does it look like, is your categorized or a cluttered mess, did you type it or is it hand written?

 
I started with a small spiral-bound  notebook with 4 sections, each with different page colors. I started putting the basics in there, like basic candle spells, basic ritual formats, info and symbols for the Goddess and God. I hand wrote it and then printed pictures off the internet and glued them in. So it's sort of like a scrap book. This is evolving into my portable BOS.

Last year, I purchased a large black 3-ring binder. I found all these fancy fonts online and I started creating beautiful pages on the computer, that I then printed out and placed into page protectors. I put borders around the pages with medieval font in the middle, so it kind of looks like pages from an ancient book. I have tabs for different sections. And when I'm mostly done, I found some tutorials on YouTube that I'm going to use to cover the binder and make it look more like an ancient book... both the outside and the inside.. probably putting in a lock of my hair and some protective herbs inside.

I also hate my handwriting, and my hand hurts after writing for a while cause I'm not used to it. I figure I'm putting just as much personal energy into each page I make on the computer as I would if I was hand writing it, if not more!  I love my BOS and I love making the pages for it!
Blessed be,
SkylarB  
My Wiccan Blog - From The Phoenix Flames

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